Anime fans are found all over the world, and there are many sites available where you can watch anime online. Sadly some of these websites do not offer the best quality and a lot of them are not even legal anime streaming websites.
These illegal sites offer a bad user experience overall and rely on sketchy advertisement networks. It might seem tempting to rely on these sites, but trust us, if you are a real Otaku, it’s much better to rely on a trustworthy anime streaming website, even if you have to pay for a subscription.
Furthermore, you can watch anime for free on many legal websites in exchange for watching some ads. So stay tuned, we will give you the best options we’ve found for watching anime online.
The author of this article is not a legal expert so we can’t guarantee that these sites are completely legal in every way, but to the best of our knowledge they are legitimate sites that offer a great experience for watching anime.
How We Evaluate a Good Website to Watch Anime Online On
There are a lot of sites that provide viewers with a good quality anime platform. In our view, a good quality anime streaming website will offer at least the following:
- Anime streaming quality supporting at least HD 720 resolution. If watching anime in HD 1080 is supported, that would be an extra plus point.
- Good quality English subtitles. Options for dubbed series, if they are available is great. Supporting subtitles for other popular languages would be a plus for an anime streaming website of course, but its a nice to have feature in our eyes that will not lower the rating of the service.
- Wide selection of anime series to watch in different genres. The latest “hot” options should be available on the platform.
Where to Watch Anime Online
1. Tubi.tv
If you want to watch your favorite anime for free, you should check out Tubi.tv! It may contain your favourite anime and the movies and anime series you were looking for.
Is Tubi.tv Good For Watching Anime Online?
Tubi.tv Pro’s |
One of the best American sites, owned by the fox cooperation, so its definitely a legitimate anime streaming service. |
Completely free and legal in the United states. So if you live in US, this may be the choice for you. |
In addition to anime you will gain access to live news TV channels like NBC News NOW and Newsy Top Stories. |
Is Tubi.tv Bad For Watching Anime?
Tubi.tv Con’s |
Not available in EU countries, unless you have VPN. |
A lot of ads. At times you will be looking at ads for 10 minutes or more. |
Tubi.tv is somewhat known for issues on Android devices. |
How Much does Tubi.tv Cost?
As said, Tubi.tv is a completely free anime streaming website that supports Android and IOS devices. If you don’t mind ads in anime, this might be the option for you.
2. Hulu.com
Hulu is a general purpose video streaming platform, that contains a great selection of anime series. Let’s jump into the details.
Is Hulu Good For Watching Anime?
Hulu contains the latest and most up to date anime series like Attack on Titan, Toradora, Death Note and so on. |
Anime series are filtered according to the genre and time it appeared in. There are also general categories like anime movies and popular anime to help you choose what anime to watch. |
Supports anime simulcasts, simultaneous broadcasts of anime, where fans can join in and watch anime at the same time. |
Offers subtitles in many languages and dubbed anime if it’s available. |
Is Hulu Bad For Watching Anime?
Here are the main issues with Hulu.tv for watching anime online. The biggest issue is that it is limited to certain locations.
Hulu Con’s |
Not available in EU countries without VPN. |
No free version with advertisements is available, so you will have to pay immediately to start watching anime. There are occasionally promotions on the site that allow a free trial for you to try out the service. |
How Much does Hulu.com Cost?
Although you get a 14 days (2 weeks) free trial on Hulu.com there is a fixed monthly fee. The cheapest plan which contains ads costs 6 USD per month. The advertisement free subscription is 11.99 dollars per month.
3. Anime Dao
So AnimeDao.to is one of the more borderline legal sites on our list. On their website disclaimer they claim that none of the anime series viewable on their platform is hosted on their servers, but instead uploaded by and hosted by servers of third parties. Weather this makes AnimeDao a legal anime streaming site somewhat doubtful however.
In any case it is a website where you can watch anime for free. Downsides are that the anime you want to watch may not be available or in the quality you expect it to be in, as all the content is hosted by third parties. In any case watching anime is free on the site (with advertisements), so it might be worth to check it out. You may find what you are looking for.
Is AnimeDao Good?
Let’s outline what we like about AnimeDao – all in all this is a pretty good website to watch anime online on.
Watching anime is free! If you like any certain video on the site, you can bookmark it to watch it later. |
Anime series are categorised alphabetically, so it’s easier to find anime if you can’t remember its name. |
Supports dark theme. |
Can set up notifications for upcoming anime releases. |
Is AnimeDao Bad?
Here are the main caveats with AnimeDao. You can be the judge if these are a problem for you personally.
Certain ads on the site can be a bit time consuming. You will have to watch a sponsored video before getting to your content. But you are watching anime for free, so no reason to complain |
The legal status of the website is somewhat sketchy and the UI can be a bit wonky when compared to the other anime streaming services on this list. |
How Much Does AnimeDao Cost?
On AnimeDao you can watch anime free of charge. No sign-up is required. You will have to watch some advertisements though.
4. Anime Planet
Anime planet is a platform that allows users to watch their favorite anime online for free. This site Anime Planet offers almost 50,000 anime episodes and also lets its users create their own list of favorite anime.
Anime Planet Pro’s |
Advanced recommendations based on the anime you have watched. You can create lists of anime series yo want to watch later and get notified when new episodes are released. |
Has both subbed and dubbed anime episodes available. You can filter between the options. |
Anime Planet has completely free and legal options to watch anime online. |
Anime Planet Con’s |
The amount of episodes and anime series you can watch online on this platform is quite limited. Chances are you won’t find what you are looking for if you have a very specific anime or episode in mind. If you are just looking to watch some anime and browse around the catalogue, anime planet is perfect for this. |
How Much Does Anime Planet Cost?
You can watch anime online for free on Anime Planet due to the partnerships anime planet has in place with different anime streaming services. There are also no advertisements to interrupt your anime viewing experience. As this is a a free service, however the amount of episodes that will be available to watch for free legally will be limited.
5. Crunchyroll
So, Crunchyroll is clearly one of the most favored and popular anime streaming platforms out there, period.
It has pages dedicated to the most recent anime coverage, upcoming anime series, feature shows, Crunchyroll news and contests, and simulcasts. It has a simple layout and an extensive library of Asian dramas, anime, and even manga. Crunchyroll also has a paid option, which removes commercials and adds some additional features. The rising of the shield hero, Code Geass, Demon Slayer, Naruto, Attack on Titan, Yuri on Ice, My Hero Academia, and several others are worth watching anime series to watch for free on the website Crunchyroll.
Crunchyroll Pro’s |
Available in 180+ countries. |
Provides all the latest on-demand anime. |
Supports many languages such as English, Dutch, France, Italian |
You can watch whole videos, check out the Offline Viewing option, and download on up to four screens for free for 14 days |
How much does Crunchyroll cost?
premium edition requires a subscription. Price: 14-day free trial, $7.99/$9.99
6. Funimation
Funimation, which is owned by Sony, is a fantastic animation website known for releasing translated global material such as anime and television shows. If you don’t like watching international anime with English subtitles and want English audio, then Funimation should be your first stop.
It also launches PS applications that allow you to watch thousands of anime series. The platform provides the most up-todate information on anime series recently aired in a given season and produces English dubs of famous anime films. Funimation’s catalog contains a variety of anime series, both ongoing and completed. On Funimation, users can watch it for free with advertisements or subscribe to delete the ads.
My Hero Academia ,Fairy Tail ,Cowboy Bebop ,Attack on Titan ,Puella Magi Madoka Magica ,Dangaronpa ,Toradora! Are some of the best anime to watch on the Funimation
Funimation Pro’s | |
There are both subbed and dubbed anime series available. | |
In the premium edition, you can watch on two screens simultaneously. | |
Funimation Con’s |
Supported regions are: United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Outside of these areas the service is only available if you fake your location using a VPN or other available methods. |
How Much Does Funimation Cost?
In the premium edition, you can watch on two screens. high-resolution
7. VRV
VRV is a video-on-demand provider that focuses on anime and animation but also includes games and technology. This streaming platform features anime titles from the HIDIVE and Crunchyroll catalogs, ensuring high-quality versions and excellent subtitles.
To use VRV from outside the United States, you’ll need a VPN. There’s a 30-day free trial, which is far longer than other streaming sites’ free trials. VRV is an excellent pick if you want more anime in your life. Because of its access to Crunchyroll’s collection, you’ll be able to see the newest anime as soon as they’re published.
Hunter x Hunter, Food Wars!, Sword Art Online, and One Piece are among the most popular shows on the network’s schedule.
VRV Pro’s | |
There is a wide range of programs and movies to choose from. | |
There are no limits on the number of streams that can be played | |
How much does VRV cost?
The monthly price for VRV subscription is $9.99/mo.
8. Netflix
Whereas most people go to Netflix to watch a wide array of movies and shows, Netflix actually has a pretty decent list of anime available. It is worth it to include it into our list even because many people will already have access to a Netflix account. So if you have an account, it might be worth it to check it out before making a subscription on other platforms where you can watch online.
How Much Does Netflix Cost?
Netflix subscriptions range from 7.99 € to 11.99 €. Yo can see the differences between the subscription plans in the table below. Take note that in order to stream in UHD, you need the most expensive subscription plan.
9. Animelab
animelab.com is a great options for fans of anime. Let’s take a look at its pro’s and cons
Animelab Pro’s |
Supports simulcast |
How Much Does Animelab Cost?
Animelab has both a free and a paid version. You can see a comparison of features in the included image. A monthly subscription to Animelab costs 7.95 AUD, which is approximately 6.09 US dollars.
To Wrap it Up
We hope we outlined some of the best options available to watch anime free online and the bonuses that the paid versions of these anime streaming services provide. Do you have your own favorite app or website to watch anime online. Let us know in the comment section below. See you next time anime fans!